House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2006, with 55% of the vote.
Taxation March 2nd, 1999
Mr. Speaker, we have consistently, as I have said, in every budget reduced income taxes. This has been part of our quest and we have achieved it.
Let me point out that our priority has been low and middle income Canadians. They are the ones who need it most. That is why in the last two budgets we have taken 600,000 Canadians right off the tax rolls.
Taxation March 2nd, 1999
Mr. Speaker, we on this side of the House recognize that we have further reductions in personal income tax to make. This has been part of our philosophy from day one when we took office. This is why we have targeted it in areas of priority.
We recognize that we do not have unlimited funds to do everything that we might like to do. We have had to be prudent in our tax cuts. We have made many spending cuts, going down to record low levels as the Prime Minister has pointed out. These have been tough choices that we have had to make on behalf of Canadians. We are committed to ongoing cuts to personal income tax and we will make—
Taxation March 2nd, 1999
Mr. Speaker, we have from the beginning of the process of individual tax reform recognized very strongly the role that a stay at home spouse can play in a family.
This is why under the child tax benefits we have a $1,340 benefit that is not otherwise available. This is why under our system it is possible for a single worker in a family to contribute up to $13,500 to an RRSP for a non-working spouse. This is part of our philosophy.
Taxation March 2nd, 1999
Mr. Speaker, having dealt conclusively with this issue, I feel there is nothing more to add.
Taxation March 2nd, 1999
Mr. Speaker, we recognize there are many reductions that still have to be made to the personal income tax system. These reforms we began from the very first day that we took office.
We have a progressive tax system under which if you earn in a much higher bracket you are naturally going to pay more money. We recognized this in the last budget when we said that for the child tax benefit you pay $13.40 less.
Taxation March 2nd, 1999
Mr. Speaker, one thing we have to recognize is that if two members of a particular family are both working, first of all they are putting in twice the working hours.
They also have close to twice the expenses: the work related expenses of clothes and travel and the expenses of not having someone at home doing the housework. There are added expenses with more than one person in a household working.
Taxation March 2nd, 1999
Mr. Speaker, we have from day one recognized the overly onerous burden of the personal income tax and we have continually, in every budget, taken measures to reduce it.
Unfortunately we cannot afford the $25 billion in fiscal goodies promised to us by the Reform Party with a $9 billion black hole without telling us where it will come from.
If we were to undertake to introduce the Reform budget, the bonding agencies would just simply laugh at us.
Taxation March 2nd, 1999
Mr. Speaker, we have to recognize that during the process of reducing taxes we have recognized a number of the disparities. Let me recite them for the member.
Where we have a single earner family we have a spousal credit of $1,500. In addition, we have the age credit, the pension credit, the disability credit and the medical credit that can be claimed.
With the child tax benefit we give $1,340 more to a single earner than to a double earning family. On top of that, a single earner can contribute up to $13,500 to the RRSP of a spouse.
Taxation March 2nd, 1999
Mr. Speaker, the facts are that from day one personal income tax reductions have been an important part of our government's fiscal plan. With this budget a two income family earning $50,000 with two children gets a 15% decrease in its income taxes. The same family with a $30,000 income pays zero federal income taxes. The same family with a $20,000 income gets a federal tax credit of $3,600. This is our commitment to the Canadian middle class.
Taxation March 2nd, 1999
Mr. Speaker, since we took office, even though we were running a huge deficit, reducing taxes has been one of our priorities. Even when we were in deficit we started by selective tax cuts for Canadians with disabilities, for the charitable and voluntary sector, for students. The most massive tax cut of all for lower income Canadians was the child tax benefit going to low income working families, $2 billion with this budget.